Pfizer objects to drugs being used for executions

Catholic News Service

5/17/16

This undated photograph shows a close-up of the table where executions are carried out by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in California.

WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, in a position
statement issued earlier this spring, said some of its drugs
are not meant to be used for executions and that it would
restrict those drugs' availability to government agencies
that might use them to make compounds for lethal injections.

The action was hailed by Karen Clifton, executive director of
the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death
Penalty.

"The medical community's mission is to save lives; Pfizer's
actions ... are consistent with that mission," Clifton said
in a May 16 statement. "As Catholics, we hold human life to
be sacred and we are encouraged when we see that value
reflected in our wider culture."

"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of
the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer
strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal
injections for capital punishment," said the statement, dated
March 28 but made public May 13.

The statement said Pfizer would restrict sales of seven
specific drugs "to a select group of wholesalers,
distributors and direct purchasers under the condition that
they will not resell these products to correctional
institutions for use in lethal injections.

"Government purchasing entities must certify that products
they purchase or otherwise acquire are used only for
medically prescribed patient care and not for any penal
purposes," the statement continued. "Pfizer further requires
that these government purchasers certify that the product is
for 'own use' and will not resell or otherwise provide the
restricted products to any other party."

Concerns over the use of the drugs have come from many
quarters.

Pfizer, whose corporate headquarters are in New York, and
other drug manufacturers have been concerned that their drugs
have been used for executions. Death penalty opponents have
been concerned over the use of prescription medications being
used for lethal injections. Courts have grown concerned over
the constitutionality of drug cocktails being used to enforce
the death penalty, and some have ruled they violate
constitutional protections against cruel and unusual
punishment. States with prisoners on death row have likewise
become concerned over the supply of drugs to use in
executions, going so far in some cases to shield the
identities of the wholesalers or retailers who supply the
necessary drugs.

"Pfizer joins other major pharmaceutical companies, the
American Pharmacists Association and the International
Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, in banning their products
and member participation in executions," Clifton said in her
statement. "States that insist on carrying out executions are
going to increasingly turn to pharmacies that are willing to
go against their profession's ethical standards."

The Pfizer policy statement said that while its distribution
network is intended to get these drugs to the people who need
them for medical reasons, it will "consistently monitor the
distribution of these seven products, act upon findings that
reveal noncompliance, and modify policies when necessary to
remain consistent with our stated position against the
improper use of our products in lethal injections."

"Our country is moving away from the death penalty because it
is immoral," Clifton said. "There is no good way to kill
someone. It's time to admit this is a bad policy and end the
use of capital punishment."